Case Study - What happens when your pets can’t come to your wedding?

Posted on 11 November, 2016

Weddings take a lot of preparation, but when Nicola Freeman from Surrey got married earlier this year, one thing she didn’t have to worry about was who was going to look after her dogs, pigs and home whilst she was off enjoying her honeymoon.

Nicola has an assortment of pets including two Kune kune pigs called Ginger and Biscuit, who live in a field behind her house, weighing an impressive 100kg each. She also has three dogs including a Labrador Pointer, a Patterdale Terrier and a Cocker Spaniel.

In the past, Nicola had relied on a friend to look after the animals when she went away, but on one occasion when her friend couldn’t help, she needed to find an alternative to ensure she could attend her brother’s birthday party.

Researching online, Nicola discovered Homesitters Ltd and gave the office a ring. She was immediately impressed with their quality of service and decided to book a homesitter.

Nicola was rather apprehensive about having strangers to stay in her home while she was away, but was reassured when she met the homesitters at an introductory meeting. This gave her the chance to introduce them to the pets and take them around her home and it ensured she felt comfortable.

While some pet sitters may not be happy to look after two large pigs, the company has an extensive network of homesitters experienced in looking after a variety of animals so they are always able to find suitable homesitters for any assignment.

In fact, the pigs are very low maintenance just requiring food and water every day, whereas the three dogs need to be walked twice a day.

Nicola comments, “Meeting the homesitters in advance of the assignment gave me the option of saying whether or not I was comfortable with them. I was looking for homesitters who respected my way of doing things. I liked them straight away and felt confident I could trust them looking after my home and pets.

“When I returned from my weekend my home was neat and tidy and the dogs were happy, they’d obviously been well exercised and fed properly. I knew I’d made the right choice and booked homesitters to look after the animals and house while I got married, and I’ve used them several times since.”

Nicola felt confident using Homesitters while she was away getting married as she knew that the company offers a 24/7 support service so if there was any kind of problem they could deal with it immediately. Even if one of the homesitters was taken ill or had to leave for any reason the company would find a replacement homesitter straight away so that Nicola’s home would never be left empty, a service which many other agencies or private house sitters are unable to offer.

Whilst on honeymoon, Nicola also didn’t have to worry about the garden as the homesitters watered the plants in the greenhouse and the garden. Previously, she had been on holiday during a hot summer and returned to the heart breaking sight of dry, brown grass and dead plants.

Nicola says that the staff at Homesitters work hard to match the right homesitters to the right home and if they get on, they try to arrange for the same homesitter to return each time so that they are familiar with the home and pets and can build a relationship with them.

Nicola added, “I work in financial services and quality customer care is really important to me, I genuinely feel that nothing is too much trouble for Homesitters. If ever there was a problem they would do everything they could to resolve it.

“People may think that using a homesitter is an expensive option, but I think it’s good value for money. If you consider the cost of putting three dogs in kennels and paying someone to come and feed the pigs, the cost is very reasonable. You also have the peace of mind that someone is looking after your home too should something happen. With a homesitter you know what you’re coming home to and that is incredibly reassuring.”

If you're interested in having a homesitter maintain the security of your home and care of your pets while you're away, click here for a booking reservation form.